How To Steal $500 Million

From: Clifton Azok (3/27/96)
To: frontline@PBS.ORG
Dear FRONTLINE,
Regarding the story about Phar-Mor and Mickey Monus; it was factually
excellent, and only became another attack on capitalism when the host and
criminal interviewees began giving their social commentary. For example,
para-phrasing the host's conclusion that charatacteristics of a good
businessman are also characteristics of good criminals; that was an outrage!
You could make that generalization about any successful person or
profession, but obviously, the host wanted only to discredit successful
business people.
As far as implying through the host's interview that all business operates
to some degree like phar-mor was another outrage.
Has Frontline ever featured a government scandal or government fraud? For
example, the national debt would be an example of a fraud on the american
citizen, which you carefully stay away from. Or, the social security trust
fund; which is another example of operational fraud of the American people.
Does the social security trust fund operate under legal faduciary
guidelines? Does the fact that there really is not a trust fund, but rather
a general ledger line on the federal budget; conflict with collecting
american's wages to invest for them in a trust fund? We could go and on
about government fraud from politicans and bureaucrats, but I am sure we'll
never see a government hack job featured on Frontline. We know what kind
of cloth you are cut from, "public tv!"
Sincerely,
C.A.
Elyria, OH

Dear FRONTLINE,
The attempt of the Phar-Mor executives who went along with Monus' fraud
to portray themselves as victims was unconvincing at best, nauseating at
worst. Pat Finn on his knees in a church pew? Come on, give me a
break! He seems awfully confused about what it means to see the world in
black and white, as he claims to. Is he familiar with the concept of the
word "resignation?" But perhaps that would have interfered with his
black and white game of golf and the black and white mortgage on his
house.
None of the executives who were party to the fraud were innocents, and
they certainly weren't victims. The real victims are the people whose
pensions were invested in Phar-Mor. Maybe instead of teaching
"aggressive accounting" (whatever that means), schools should start
teaching "ethical accounting. I know what that means, and I'd bet that
Pat Finn does too.
C.S.
New York

Dear FRONTLINE,
Your program this week illustrated another sad story of corporate mismanagement
and naked greed.
Having worked for a young insurance company that operated in much the same way
tells me that the accounting
practices at Phar- Mor are not uncommon among fast growing businesses and
should be subject to higher a level of accounting scrutiny both by their
outside auditors and potential investors. Unfortunately, the ones feeling the
aftereffects of the "Mickey-Finn" accounting cocktail are the swindled
shareholders and layed off employees.
C.M.

Dear FRONTLINE,
After seeing your revealing story on Mickey Monus's tremendous
corporate fraud, I too had a revelation. Perhaps the investors
in Phar-Mor should have borrowed a lesson from the health and
insurance industries by proactively getting the opinions of multiple
auditors. It is foolhardy to use only the yardstick of inventory
flow through a retail chain as the measurement of success. An in-
vestment as large as Phar-Mor requires extreme scrutiny in the first
few years -- until it, and its leaders can be proven trustworthy.
Before I must undergo extensive and potentially expensive medical
procedures, my insurer expects more than one look by a single
physician. Coopers and Lybrand cannot be completely faulted for their
mishandling of the audits. They were unsupported by other
investigations, even at the federal level.
I am left wondering now whether our federal legislature is going
to take some action to stiffen penalties or to increase the reach of
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
R.W.
South Windsor, CT

Dear FRONTLINE,
I want to complement you on your excellant reporting with regard to Mickey
Monus and Pharmor. It says something about our society, pay someone
enough money and you can take an otherwise honest person and turn him
into a common crook. From the CFO on down, they all knew what was going
on and yet no one was willing to give up their lucrative paycheck to be
honest.
Your show opened my eyes to the graft and greed of the discount retail
business.
H.J.
West Palm Beach, FL

Dear FRONTLINE,
Your piece, "How to Steal Five Hundred Million" was truly excellent. It left
me, a former Youngstown area resident, with an accurate feeling of sadness.
The last camera shot of the piece, which showed the decaying skyline of
Youngstown, summed up the staggering economic depression of the Northeast
Ohio area. The Phar-Mor scandal was just one more nail in the coffin for the
Youngstown region.
I think your story will go far in educating the rest of the nation about how
far the economy has fallen and how desperate some communities have become. It
is my belief that if Youngstown had not been so frantic for corporate monies
and jobs for area residents, the scam would have been discovered much more
quickly.
As America's economy worsens, and more cities are reduced to the decay of
Youngstown, it seems possible that even more communities will fall for
corporate fraud. Thank you for bringing this issue to light.
M.C.
Columbus, OH